
1111 



GRADING RURAL 
a SCHOOLS 



LET US LAY WELL THE FOUNDATION FOR 

THE EDUCATION OF OUR CHILDREN. 

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS— THEY 

MUST BE IMPROVED 



ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 
MONTGOMERY. ALABAMA 



1911 



1 



MOWN PTQ. 00. MONTGOMERY, ALA. 



COPIES OF THE BULLETINS AND CIRCU- 
LARS MENTIONED BELOW MAY BE 
SECURED BY SENDING TO THE 
SUPT. OF EDUCATION AT *U 

SARY POSTAGE. x <h \J> v 

____ V v >^ 

1. School Manual for Elementary Schools, 
postage 7 cents. 

2. County High School Manual, postage 4 
cents. 

3. Annual Report, postage 5 cents. 

4. School Laws, postage 6 cents. 

5. School Improvement Circulars, postage 2 
cents. 

6. Facts and Figures Relating to Local Tax- 
ation, postage 2 cents. 

7. Education Directory, postage 2 cents. 

8. Reading Circle Circular, 1911, postage 2 
cents. 

9. Booklet containing collection of Songs for 
Public Schools, postage 2 cents. 

10. Booklet on Grading Rural Schools, post- 
age 1 cent. 

11. Rules and Regulations governing the 
Examination of Teachers, postage 1 cent. 

12. Rules and Regulations governing the 
County High Schools, postage 2 cents. 

13. Rules and Regulations governing the Nor- 
mal Schools, postage 2 cents. 

A bulletin on "School Qardens" may be ob- 
tained from the Polytechnic Institute at Au- 
burn. Farmers' bulleiin No. 218 on "School 
Gardens" may be obtained from the U. S. De- 
partment of Agriculture. 






FOREWORD. 

This little pamphlet will help each rural 
teacher in his work and it will aid each rural 
community in promoting its educational welfare. 
The pamphlet was prepared by Mr. N. R. Ba- 
ker, Supervisor of Rural Schools. This is a 
guarantee that the suggestions contained are 
practical, workable, usable. Let us, without 
further delay, begin to grade and organize more 
closely those rural schools which have not yet 
received this attention, and at the same time 
improve, if possible, the conditions in schools 
already graded. 

Yours for better rural schools, 

H. J. WILLINGHAM, 

Supt. of Education. 



GRADING RURAL SCHOOLS. 

While many of the rural schools of the State 
are well organized yet a rather large propor- 
tion of them are not making a very efficient 
attempt at systematic grading. 

There are some real difficulties in the way. 
It is the purpose of this bulletin to remove these 
hindrances, which may be enumerated as fol* 
lows : 

1. Large number of classes. 

2. Irregular attendance. 

3. Short term. 

4. Uneven advancement of the pupils. 

5. Large percentage of inexperienced teach- 
ers employed. 

6. Large number of teachers changing posi- 
tions each year and leaving no adequate rec- 
ord for the guidance of their successors. 

The advantages of the graded over the un- 
graded school may be enumerated as follows : 

1. It brings system out of chaos. 

2. It arouses a class spirit. This is not the 
least advantage. Each class or grade feels that 
it has a work to perform and a reputation to 
sustain. 



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3. It becomes an incentive. The pupils are 
anxious to pass to the next higher grade. 

4. Each grade becomes a basis for exami- 
nation, for correlation and for comparison with 
other schools. 

5. It enables parents to estimate the pro- 
gress being made. 

6. It secures for the child co-ordinate mental 
balance. 

7. It economizes time. Not only is this true of 
pupil and teacher in the daily program of each 
school but if a child removes from one district 
to another he is already classified as shown by 
a transfer card and consequently loses no time. 



HOW GRADING MAY BE DONE. 

In the first place there can be no grading 
without adherence to a course of study and a 
daily program. Of course the State Manual 
should be used by the teacher after its adoption 
by the county board and superintendent as a ba- 
sis for all grading. 

Page 35 contains a suggestive program with 
24 recitation periods. There never need be 
more than 25 recitation periods daily in any 
rural school. 

How can the number be reduced to this 
amount? 

1. Do not admit pupils studying Latin, high- 
er Algebra. Physical Geography, or other high 
school studies. These should not be taught at 
least during regular school hours. 

2. Reduce the number of grades if possible 
by eliminating the small grades containing but 
one or two pupils. This may be done by com- 
bining either with the next grade above and 
giving individual attention for a time, or with 
the next grade below and giving the pupil sup- 
plementary work to do. 

3. Elimination by alternation will be the 
chief method however. This may be done in two 
way 

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a. By alternating subjects. For instance in 
the program referred to above history and phy- 
siology are placed in the same period, meaning 
that history may recite one day and physiology 
the next. Some good teachers prefer however 
to have the history work completed the first 
half of the term and laid aside and the physiol- 
ogy taken up and completed the last half. 

b. By alternating years, on page 32 of the 
State Manual in the seventh grade course of 
study, history and civics are put in together as 
a topic for the year, and also heavy work in 
Krohn's Physiology is given. Why not teach 
history and civics one year and no physiology, 
reversing the order next year. This of course 
would necessitate the combining of the sixth 
and seventh grades in order that upon the com- 
pletion of the course by any pupil no subject 
shall have been omitted. 

This plan is really contemplated in the sug- 
gestive program. This idea may also be ap- 
plied to alternating the entire sixth and seventh 
years. There is not very much difference in the 
capacities of sixth and of seventh grade pupils. 
All can study the seventh year work one year 
and the sixth the next if necessary. In order 
to make this plan uniform throughout the State 
it will be necessary to have all take the work 
of the odd grades as fifth and seventh, begin- 



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ning in the odd years, as 1911 and the even 
grades beginning in the even years. 

Where there is a winter and a summer term 
or two terms in any fiscal school year the first 
effort of teacher and superintendent should be 
to get the community to agree to a change so as 
to combine the two terms one continuous session. 
Where this is not practicable have the terms 
come as close together as possible, and have 
the work continuous, that is, let the work be so 
arranged that it will require both terms to sat- 
isfy the course of study, and begin the second 
term where the work of the first term leaves off, 
having the general promotion time at the end of 
the second term. 

Where pupils are unevenly advanced in the 
various studies care should be used not to make 
the grading to Procrustean at first. Some pu- 
pils may always be "mixed." The prevailing or 
most difficult studies should determine the rank- 
ing in the grade. For instance if a pupil has 
spelling in the fifth grade, geography, read- 
ing and language with the fourth grade and 
writing, music and arithmetic with the third 
grade the pupil should be ranked with the fourth 
grade. 

However much we may theorize our success 
depends to a great degree upon the mechanical 
side of our work. Success in grading depends 



to a great degree upon the facility and the con- 
scientiousness with which we carry out the 
course of study, the daily program, and such 
helps as pupils' report cards, promotion lists, 
etc. No teacher should fail to leave a complete 
record of the standing and gradation of each 
pupil and send duplicate copy of same to the 
county superintendent for his files. 

Now, let us see what the teacher with five 
grades, for that is the maximum number into 
which the school needs be divided, will do 
when she sets out to grade her school. She 
will first want to separate the first grade from 
the others. 

1. From the State Manual as a guide she 
will read "Helpful Hints to Young Teachers" 
and "The School as a Socializing Agency" as an 
introduction to her work. 

2. She will read "The Primary School" on 
p. 19 of the Manual as an introduction to her 
primary work. 

3. She will then read the condensed course 
of study on p. 27 so far as it relates to the first 
grade. 

On page 35 she sees how much time is alloted 
and soon decides how closely she can follow the 
program. 

5. She will read the introduction to spelling 



on page 38 and all that it said about the sub- 
ject in the first grade on page 42. 

The same procedure applies to reading on 
page 45 ; writing, page 57 ; language, pages 
61 and 64 ; arithmetic, page 102 ; geography, 
page 115 ; history, page 144 ; nature study 
and agriculture, pages 169 and 172 ; man- 
ual training, pages 213, 216, 218, 220, 
223; music, pages 228 and 235. She will also 
possibly give some attention to page 249 and 
get pupils interested in the library and the 
reading circle at the beginning of the term. 

6. She will then repeat this procedure for 
all the other grades, omitting only such sub- 
jects, if any, as are not included by the county 
board in the course of study. However, teach- 
ers should not be too easily discouraged. If 
not prepared on certain subjects they should 
become prepared as soon as possible and in 
the meantime simply do the best they can. 



GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. 

1 Do not get the idea that a one-room coun- 
try school cannot be graded. There are more 
graded than ungraded rural schools. 

2. Do not get the idea that a one-room coun- 
try school does not have its advantages. One 
of these is the time saved by the younger chil- 
dren listening to the older ones recite. The 
rural school is the best school in the world to 
develop individuality. The country schbol 
trains to responsibility. 

3. Use the word "grade" as relating to "lo- 
cation" of the child in the course of study as 
often as possible. Explain the grading and 
the necessity for it to the pupils and to the 
patrons. 

4. The grading should be focalized around 
reading rather than arithmetic as a basal study 
especially in the first three or four grades. The 
chief business of the first three grades is to 
learn reading and expression by means of oral 
and written language. In the past we have un- 
duly emphasized arithmetic among children too 
young to profit by instruction in that difficult 
branch which requires a development of the 
reasoning faculties. A difficulty in carrying 



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out this suggestion will be the paucity of the 
course of study in reading. In city schools 
frequently from four to eight readers are read 
in one grade. Here the library must be freely 
drawn upon for assistance. 

5. It is as much the duty of the teacher to 
leave a promotion record and complete state- 
ments regarding the advancement of each child 
as it is for her to keep a register and call the 
roll daily. 

6. It frequently occurs that a pupil is ahead 
of others of his grade in one or more branches. 
He may be employed profitably in looking up 
words and topics, in experimenting, correlating, 
elaborating, demonstrating. Thus while these 
brighter or more advanced pupils may not be 
allowed to go higher in the grades they may 
go deeper into the subject and gain a broader 
and more comprehensive knowledge. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Kern's Among Country Schools. 

Dutton's School Management. 

Welch's How to Organize, Classify and 
Teach a Country School. 

Illinois State Manual and Course of Study. 

West Virginia Bulletin on Grading Rural 
Schools. 

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